Health and Social Care: Principles, Ethics and Protection Essay

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of key principles and practices within health and social care. It examines the application of support principles to ensure effective care for individuals with special needs, emphasizing anti-discriminatory practices, confidentiality, and effective communication. The essay outlines procedures for protecting clients, patients, and colleagues from harm, including training, hygiene standards, and adherence to relevant regulations such as HSWA 1974 and MHSWR 1999. It analyzes the benefits of a person-centred approach, highlighting its focus on individual needs. Furthermore, the essay explores potential ethical dilemmas and conflicts that may arise in providing care, support, and protection to service users, referencing relevant literature and legislation to support its arguments. The essay underscores the importance of ethical considerations and practical strategies in delivering high-quality health and social care services.

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Health and Social Care
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The health care organizations have various divisions that take care of health of people having
special needs. The philosophy behind extending the care to the people who need by bringing
in the appropriate legislation and codes of practice is an appreciable effort of the H&SC
services. There are legislations that help the individuals utilizing the health services with the
protection from any kind of harm and abuses. The use of person-centred approach ensures
that the need of the person needing the help is fulfilled at personal level. Though the
philosophy of care is focused towards providing appreciable care, yet there are various ethical
dilemmas that are confronted. Having some experience in this field and with the help of
provided training, one is able enough to protect the service users, while utilizing the human
development theories which can assist in managing the processes that aid in providing care
services to the needed individuals. This paper is concerned with understanding the various
aspects of the support principles and values and the way vulnerable people can be protected.
1.1 Explanation of how principles of support are applied to ensure that individuals are cared
for in health and social care practice has been done in the subsequent paragraphs. The
principles refer to the rules and regulations that are defined to help things function effectively
and efficiently. The principles in the health and service care ensure that the social care is
provided with appreciable rate of success. The application of the practice in eliminating the
anti-discriminatory practice can be done. The anti-discriminatory practice asserts that the
individuals must be treated with respect and none of them is considered as disadvantaged.
The achievement of this aspect can be facilitated by the promotion and support of right of the
individual (Kanfer and Heggestad, 1997). The individuals who require health care for the
extended period start to feel that their dignity and independence has lost. Therefore, through
the application of the appropriate code of practices it can be ensured that the individuals are
treated in settings that keep their beliefs and self-identities intact. As for example, if an

individual is Christian, then that individual should be allowed to pay the visit to church. The
application of support principle can help ensure that the person is being cared.
Moreover, the confidentiality of the person must be considered properly. The reason is that
the confidentiality is the key in imparting successful treatment in the H&SC. The confidential
care service is applied in the health service. It ensures that the information of the individuals
is kept private and everyone restricted to access the information (Levant and Shlien, 1984).
As per the data protection act 1998, the information of the service users should be protected.
Utilizing the effective communication within the health services and promoting this aspect is
another important element that helps in supporting the individual get proper health benefits.
The communication facilitates the both side interaction among the individuals in the health
services. The use of technology can be the important element in effective communication.
The technology can also be used in the other form such as the tool of entertainment. The
individuals can learn various computer games and can engage themselves in such activity
which will be supporting self with playing Skills for care.
Moreover, if the individuals receiving the service are given appropriate guidance, then it is
likely that they will take risks and increase their ability to take independent choices. Some of
the riskier choices can be football plays, running, and other form of physical games.
1.2 Outline of the procedure for protecting clients, patients, and colleagues from harm has
been given in paragraphs from here. There are two methods that are considered to provide
protection to the individuals receiving the health services. The first method is to protection of
the service users from any form of harm. The second method is the safeguarding of the
individuals who are vulnerable from any kind of abuse. The purpose of protection in the
H&SC is to ensure that the individuals are safe from any form of harms or abuses. Harms
refer to the damages or injuries that happen to the individual and the abuses refer to the act

that violates the rights of an individual. Safeguarding from various abuses is handled by the
personnel in the H&SC services that help reduce the risk of the adults from getting
confronted with the abuses.
For the protection of the client the staff members will be brought in the induction program
and will be trained for the profile. This will help in imparting the understanding of the
various aspects necessary to perform the duty to the individuals getting assigned for the work.
The trainings help the care providers in learning the things that are necessary to handle the
adverse situations effectively. The manual handling is given preference here. The Manual
Handle Operations Regulations 1992 (amended in 2002) contains the provisions that cover
the various aspects of manual handling.
As per the Care and The Registered Manager’s Award Book, the individuals’ must be trained
effectively. The development of effective training cycle was brought in the picture to ensure
that the appropriate training is given (Boyle et al, 1999). The aspects that are covered in the
cycle are training needs, delivery of training activity, establishment of training activities,
development of training activities, and measurement of improvements. If the focus is to get
the effective training, then the trainers should use all the parts of the cycle one step at a time.
Along with benefiting the H&SC, it also focuses on the appropriate service and eventually
brings outcomes as desired.
For the protection of the vulnerable individuals, it should be ensured that the personal
hygiene of the individuals is taken care of and the service standards meet the appropriate
provisions laid in the H&SC services. The achievement of the hygiene can be done in the
appearance and the personal cleanliness. As it is obvious that the caring of the individuals
within the H&SC requires serving food, therefore, it is important that the hygiene is well
taken care. The individuals who are involved with the serving food need to be clean. This will

ensure that they unknowingly do not contaminate the food of the individuals getting care.
This will eventually protect the vulnerable people from getting food poisoned.
Moreover, the knowledge about food hygiene is imperative to ensure that the no one get sick
due to the poor management of food. The aspects that are considered in the food hygiene can
be washing hands prior to beginning the daily activity, cleaning of hands immediately after
visiting the toilet, washing hands after sneezing, and others. The consideration of these
measures will ensure that the food is not contaminated and the care receivers stay safe. Apart
from that, the right refrigeration of the food needs to be followed. The food present in the
refrigerator must not be over packed crushing all the foods together. The foods that are hot
must not be brought in the refrigerators. The machines should be regularly cleaned and raw
food should be kept separately from the cooked food. Moreover, the temperature within
refrigerators should be controlled in accordance to the food being stored.
The HSWA 1974 Regulations should be followed for the effective protection of anyone
within the H&SC (Ogus, 1995). The purpose of the act was to reduce the risk and level of
harm at the working area. Moreover, the individuals working as the carers must report the
cases of injuries, and risky occurrences to the local authority (RIDDOR, 1999).
One of the important regulations is MHSWR 1999 that requires the staffs to conduct the risk
assessment at the work setting. The utilization of this regulation will help in the reduction of
the likely hazards (Gadd et al, 2004). Another regulation is the DDA 1995 which asks for the
employers to ensure that the individuals who are being taken care of are receiving safe access
and exit in the area. One more regulation, COSHH 2002, ensures that the individuals are kept
aloof from the hazardous substances. It is likely that the hazardous substances will increase
the risk of the adverse health situation (Wiseman, 2002). This provision asks the staff
members to take care of this aspect. Apart from the above, the carers should know about the

first aid as it is the first thing that is given to the individuals needing care until they are
rushed to the hospitals for the thorough treatment.
1.3 Analysis of the benefits of following a person-centred approach with the users of H&SC
services has been done. Carl Rogers (1902-1987) came up with the idea of person cantered
approach. He was a psychologist, and the purpose behind this aspect was to bring the care
giver and taker closer. Initially it was client centred approach, but later client was replaced
with person. The development of the person centred approach was to counsel the individuals
implement psychotherapy (Rogers, 1979). There are multitudes of benefits in this aspect. It
ensures that the services developed are focused on the users and it also ensures that the need
of the individual is well take care. As for example, in the care giving setting, there are
instances when the carer does things for the individual they are not capable of doing on their
own.
1.4 Explanation of ethical dilemmas and conflict that may arise while providing care, support
and protection to users of H&SC services have been given in the subsequent chapters. The
ethical dilemma refers to the situation when the person has two choices. One of the examples
of the ethical dilemma was when one of the patients was having acute pains and the
painkillers that were given by the doctors were not working because the patient was not
stopping the drinking habit. The pain killer was not working due to this fact. The conflict is
that the patient could have been stopped from taking the whisky but it was what the person
was fond of but the painkillers was also necessary to be taken to reduce the pain.

References
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p.361.
Gadd, S.A., Keeley, D.M. and Balmforth, H.F., 2004. Pitfalls in risk assessment: examples
from the UK. Safety Science, 42(9), pp.841-857.
Kanfer, R. and Heggestad, E.D., 1997. Motivational traits and skills: A person-centered
approach to work motivation. RESEARCH IN ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, VOL 19,
1997, 19, pp.1-56.
Levant, R.F. and Shlien, J.M., 1984. Client-centered therapy and the person-centered
approach: New directions in theory, research, and practice. Praeger Publishers/Greenwood
Publishing Group.
Ogus, A., 1995. Rethinking self-regulation. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 15(1), pp.97-
108.
Rogers, C.R., 1979. The Foundations of the Person-Centered Approach. Education, 100(2).
Wiseman, J., 2002. COSHH essentials: survey of firms purchasing this guidance. HSE
Books.